The Speckled Cat
by klooSTAR
Summary: A strange prophecy about a loner shocks Windclan, and former exile Stormheart.
1. The prophecy

Stormheart trotted over the moor with his catch in his jaws.

The sun was just coming up over the hills, bathing Windclan territory in golden pink light.

This was the best time to hunt. No distractions and the wind wasn't as harsh.

Stormheart, a previous Shadowclan warrior, still wasn't used to the chilling wind that seemed to always be blowing.

He padded through the tall grass into the warm center of camp.

There the apprentices were already changing the bedding for the elders, but, Stormheart realized, something looked off.

He placed his rabbits in the fresh kill pile, and picked up a small thrush for himself.

He was ravenous so he rolled the bird over to eat it when he noticed small specks all over it.

It was very strange for birds to have specks, and so Stormheart was examining it when his friend Brambletail barreled into him. "Hey Stormheart!" Brambletail mrow-ed, peering over at his friend's breakfast.

"So I guess you think you're a medicine cat now huh? We shall die from a thrush!" he joked.

Stormheart however stayed serious. "Does this bird smell funny too you?" he questioned. "I don't know…" his friend absentmindedly responded.

"Oh shhh look its Ivyfur." Brambletail put on a nonchalant look.

"Hey Ivyfur!" he called out. The dark grey and silver striped tabby looked at him and smiled.

Brambletail smiled back so widely he looked ridiculous. "Have you heard?" she called over to them. "Firewing found a loner on our territory. She seems really nice."

Ivyfur swished off leaving Brambletail ecstatic. "Did you see that? She SMILED at me! And we TALKED! This is great!" Brambletail rambled on.

"Yeah… so I wonder who that new cat is." Stormheart looked thoughtful. "Who cares when IVYFUR- oh hi Tawnyfoot." Brambletail greeted the small medicine she-cat.

"What do have their Stormheart?" Tawnyfoot squeaked, her small voice curious. "Well I think this thrush is…"

He paused because Tawnyfoot's purple eyes had turned silver and were shining like the Moonpool. "The speckled cat will change the clan. The speckled one will doom us all."

Tawnyfoot growled, her voice unnaturally deep, and her eyes distant.

The entire clan was silent during this prophecy. Stormheart turned at the sound of someone entering the camp.

"Hey everyone! Wow this place is nice!" A gold and brown speckled cat bounced into the center of the camp, and into everyone's menacing glares.


	2. Specklepelt

"She must leave at once!" Firewing's voice could be heard all the way from the leaders den.

Stormheart felt sorry for the poor loner, whose name turned out to be Specklepelt.

She now sat on the edge of the clearing, running her paw over and over in the dust.

She seemed to have the energy of an apprentice. He wondered were she was that she got her warriors name.

She was a loner, so why was her name Specklepelt? Stormheart yearned to go over and ask this mysterious she-cat everything.

Brambletail, however, seemed to be paying no attention at all to the prophecy, but instead chatting with Ivyfur about rabbit hunting techniques.

'Like she doesn't notice that he's crazy for her' Stormheart though, rolling his eyes. Firewing, the deputy, stomped out of Oakstar's den.

"TAWNYFOOT! GET IN THE LEADERS DEN-NOW!!!" he then turned back into the den.

Tawnyfoot winked at Stormheart, and followed the orange deputy into the den that was on the other side of the Gathering-Log.

Stormheart switched his gaze back to Specklepelt, who was sitting there looking bored. He decided to muster up his courage, and go over there.

He self consciously gave his chest a few licks, and then strolled across the camp. "Hey Specklepelt." He gave the pretty gold and brown cat a tight smile, sitting awkwardly beside her.

"Hi!! I'm so glad one of you actually started talking to me…" she trailed off, and waved a paw at one of the nearsighted elders, Rootclaw.

Clumsy and nearly blind, Rootclaw waved back, only to ushered away by his mate, Goldenfeather.

"So who is that bossy ginger cat anyway?" Specklepelt questioned.

"Oh you mean Firewing? Oh don't mind him. He's a bossy furball with an anger issue. He's the clan deputy."

Stormheart added, ignoring Brambletail, who was motioning him over like he was a crazy person to talk to this loner.

"Oakstar, he's our leader. He's pretty quiet and kind of keeps to himself.

Tawnyfoot, the small cream one, is our medicine cat. She helps heal us when we're sick and fixes us up when we're injured.

The leaders den is behind the Gathering-Log, which is were Oakstar gives announcements.

The apprentices, kits over 6 moons old that are in training to become warriors, sleep over in that dip in the ground.

The warriors sleep in the enclosed area beside that holly bush. Tawnyfoot's den is made of roots of an old tree." He finished.

"WOW! You really know everything about this place!" Specklepelt looked at him in amazement.

"Well actually, not really. I just came here a few moons ago. Shadowclan banished me from their clan." Stormheart focused on his paws, his face flushing in embarrassment.

"What! What happened! Why would Skystar be so cruel?" Specklepelt looked concerned. "Well- wait! How do you know who Skystar is? And why do you already have a warrior's name?"

Stormheart interrogated her. "I just hear things that's all. And I changed my name to Specklepelt. It used to be just Speckle."

She looked at him with such innocence, that he had to believer her. "Why don't we go hunt, and I can show you around the territory?" he asked.

His proposal seemed to change the way she looked at him. "Sure!" she smiled up at him and bounded out of the clearing.

He followed her, shaking his head, yet he was smiling.

Something about her made him happy.

Could she really be the one to doom them all?


	3. Feelings

Stormheart sprinted across the moor laughing.

Behind him, Specklepelt meowed at him with mock-ferocity. "I'm going to get you mouse!" She exclaimed.

Stormheart felt so lighthearted around her, like her energy was contagious. She pounced, and they tumbled to the ground, rolling down a hill.

They halted to a stop at the bottom, tangled together. Stormheart, pushed back on his hind legs to get up, only to be startled by another fierce pounce from Specklepelt.

She rolled on top of him and pinned him down. She smiled coyly as he looked in her eye.

They were the purest blue. Stormheart felt an electric shock go through him when there eyes connected.

Then he realized where he was. He smiled and pushed her off. "Now I'm it!" he called.

"Stormheart, I hate to interrupt your childish game, but we need to have a few words with the loner." Firewing called rudely over the hill.

"Her name is Specklepelt, and she's right here!" Stormheart retorted. "Oh its fine Stormheart." Specklepelt looked over at him and winked.

"See you later!" she sprinted uphill where the ginger deputy waited to escort her to camp. Stormheart lay in the grass, his thoughts confused.

Did he have feelings for Specklepelt? He didn't really know. He did know that when he was around her, he felt happy, and free.

If they never became mates, and if he never wanted to be mates with her, he knew they would still be great friends. He rolled over onto his back, looking up into the sky.

The deep blue reminded him of Specklepelt's eyes, and the way they shone. A long purr escaped his throat. So maybe he DID have feelings for her.

So what. She would become a Windclan warrior, and he would take her for his mate. If she wanted him to. Stormheart jumped up quickly. He had to talk to Specklepelt.

What if she didn't have feelings for him? Oh. What if she didn't have feelings for him. What if she had feelings for Firewing? What if she thought that Stormheart was stupid or immature?

"That's why you have to go tell her!" he yelled out loud. You have feelings for her, so you tell her. It's nothing serious. But if she has feelings for you, then one day you can be mates!

He raced up the hill and into camp, the adrenaline from his crush pushing him into a sprint. He ran into the clearing, scanning the cats for Specklepelt. "Specklepelt!" he yelped.

"Would all cats of Windclan gather around the Gathering-Log for a clan meeting, please." Oakstar commanded. Oh good, he thought to himself, Oakstar will make her a warrior.

"We have decided, after long consideration, that it is best for the clan if we…. exile Specklepelt forever!" Oakstar finished. WHAT! They had just become friends!

He had just realized he had a crush on her! He was going to tell her and they were going to like each other(hopefully)!

And now Oakstar and Firewing were going to ruin any chance of him being a mate with Specklepelt over a stupid prophecy?

Stormheart raced out of camp, trying to hold in his emotions.


	4. Answers

Stormheart was hiding in the bushes near the Moonpool.

The moon was high in the sky, the half crescent displaying a white light that turned his blue/grey fur silver.

He curled up in an even tighter ball. What was he going to do? He would miss Specklepelt so much.

Even though he just met her, he felt as if he had known her for all of his life. She made him happy and without her, life would be boring, routine even.

He thought of life without her, and he felt sad and empty. He tucked his nose behind his tail, and drifted off into an uncomfortable sleep.

Stormheart jumped up. He had been awakened by the sound of hushed voices. He stretched and peered out from the bush he was sheltering in.

There were four cats gathered around the Moonpool. Of course! He thought to himself, it's the half moon.

And only then did he recognize the huddled bodies of the 4 clans' medicine cats. The small lump of fur that was bright white could only be Tawnyfoot.

The brown striped tabby that lay isolated was definitely Leaftail, the Riverclan medicine cat, while the two shapes that lay huddled together remained in the shadows,

so Stormheart had no idea who they were. He saw the cats press their noses into the pool, which seemed a piece of the moon itself.

Their eyes closed and he realized they must be speaking with Starclan. On his belly now, he inched forward, barely breathing to get as closer peek.

He lay there for what seemed like moons, lying on his belly, stretched out as flat as he could, barely breathing in the cold night air.

He must have dozed off, for he had woken to the sound of the cats discussing their dreams.

He perked up when he heard Tawnyfoot say, "I agree with Redbush. It tells us of danger, and near danger." The small cat concluded.

Mousebrain! Stormheart thought to himself. The two cats in the darkness must be Redbush of Thunderclan and his apprentice Lightningspots.

His suspicions were confirmed a few seconds later when Lightningspots spoke up,

"But Tawnyfoot if we are in danger, why did we only get the message about the speckled one dooming us all, and not the cat who will change our clan?"

Hmm…. Stormheart thought. Little Lightningspots was right. So maybe, maybe Specklepelt will only change the clan!

Maybe she won't be the one to doom us all! There are plenty other speckled cats in the clans. Stormheart had been to busy thinking, and he missed Tawnyfoot's response.

By the time he zoned back in, Leaftail had finished speaking. "Are you coming Tawnyfoot?" he heard Redbush call from afar. "I think I shall hunt while I have this opportunity."

He heard her respond nearby. Oh I hope she doesn't find me oh please Starclan- "You can come out know Stormheart." Foxdunk! He thought to himself.

"Hello Tawnyfoot." He crept out of the bushed meekly. "I knew the whole time you were spying on us. And why. I'm a medicine cat- I can tell feelings. Besides it kind of obvious."

The small she cat whispered. "What is obvious?" Stormheart denied.

"Don't play dumb with me Stormheart. I know you have feelings for Speckletail. Don't-" she interrupted as he started to meow in protest.

"I know that she will not be the one to doom us. She will change us though. Come, its getting late. Lets get back to camp."

And with the words of the wise medicine cat running through his head, he followed Tawnyfoot back to camp.


End file.
